Hollow pursuits
by This is My Truth Tell Me Yours
Summary: One-shot. There's tension in the changing rooms of the Slytherin Quidditch team when Adrian Pucey discovers Marcus Flint cheating. What happens? It is said in the books that Adrian was one of the most decent Slytherins, and because that's one of the most decent things said about a Slytherin character in the books, I think Adrian deserves a lot more stories written about him...


**Disclaimer:** The ideas are mine, he characters belong to J.K. And she's the best writer in the world. Just saying.

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 _"He is notable as one of the few Slytherin Quidditch players who is not shown to commit a foul or otherwise cheat, despite being on the Quidditch team for at least three years"_ ** _Harry Potter Wikia_**

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"What the hell did you do, Pucey?" Marcus Flint asked loudly, pushing Adrian hard against the lockers.

"Take your hands away from me!" Adrian warned him, pushing him back.

They were still wearing their Quidditch robes, inside the changing rooms, and the other players gathered around the two of them. A banner in which the words "Go Slytherin" had been written with magic ink lay crumpled and forgotten in a corner. A scrawny yellow cat that had been sleeping over a pile of dirty uniforms ran outside as soon as the argument had started.

"You threw the game!" Flint shouted furiously at Adrian's face. His large teeth, shifty grey eyes and black hair looked even scarier when he was this close. But Adrian didn't even flinch.

Outside, they could still hear the cheers of the crowd as the students walked back to the castle. It was August, 31 and the first game of the season had just ended. Gryffindor won.

It wasn't supposed to be like that. When they came back from the first time-out Gryffidor had the lead, at one hundred and eighty to zero. Then the Slytherin chasers scored three goals in rapid succession and things started looking up. Terence was a far better seeker than anybody Gryffyndor had ever had since Charlie Weasley graduated, so they just needed one more goal to win if Terence caught the snitch before Gryffindor could score again.

Adrian had the Quaffle and he was headed straight for the goal hoops. But then he noticed something odd. Wood's broomstick was pulling to the side. In fact, the Gryffindor Keeper seemed to be having trouble not falling off of his broom. No wonder Slytherin had scored three times in a row!

Flint's smirk and his brief disappearance during the time-out made sense for the first time.

And Adrian dropped the Quaffle.

Oh, he'd staged things properly. He made it look like he was dodging a particularly well placed Bludger when the ball fell through his arms. And it fell straight into Johnson's hands. The Gryffindor girl scored almost at the same time that Terence caught the snitch. Even with the hundred and fifty points gained by the seeker, Slytherin could not win. The crowd exploded in cheers.

And now Flint was in Adrian's face, demanding an explanation.

"You tampered with Wood's broomstick," Adrian said, loudly, staring Flint in the eye, "I don't know whether you used a broom-broom kit or a hex, but you did something."

Flint didn't even try to deny it.

"So?" He asked, little drops of saliva splashing Adrian's uniform, "Do you have any idea how much trouble it was? And then you just throw the game?"

"Marcus," Bletchley intervened, "he was dodging a Bludger, mate. It was not on purpose."

"Shut up, Miles!" Flint exploded, then he turned back at Adrian, "you can't fool, me, Pucey, I know you did it on purpose."

"Yes, I did," he said simply, "I was not about to score knowing you had tampered with the keeper's broomstick. That's illicit, Flint. I don't need to be dishonest to score and win."

"And yet, somehow, you didn't score once today." Marcus mocked him.

"He's better than you, Flint," Terence spoke for the first time. The seeker was taller than any other team member and he'd been standing behind Adrian, all along, "You are the captain of the team. Doesn't that mean anything to you? If anybody in this room should be an example it should be you."

"Shut up, Higgs," Flint dismissed the seeker, "jus shag Pucey already if you're gonna act like his bloody boyfriend."

"Honesty doesn't mean a thing to you, does it, Marcus?"Adrian asked.

"No!" Flint answered angrily, pushing Adrian hard on the shoulders again, "what's the matter, Pucey? Aren't you gonna say something now?"

Adrian lost his balance, but managed not to fall. Then he hit Flint on the face with a right cross.

"Have you never been so shocked that you didn't know what to say next?" Adrian asked, barely taking notice of Flint's blood on his knuckles.

Marcus pulled his wand from his robes and pointed it at Adrian's chest.

Adrian reacted immediately, by pointing his own wand at Flint. With a rapid movement the Captain was hanging upside down from the roof, trying to get rid of the cloak that fell over his eyes while the other players laughed. A non-verbal _Levicorpus_ spell.

"What exactly is happening here?"

Adrian lowered his wand and Flint fell heavily on the floor. The other players stopped laughing. Bletchley had seen Mrs. Norris leaving the room, and he thought Filch might get there in time to stop the fight, but it wasn't Filch at the door. It was Snape.

The Potions master looked at them for a moment.

"What would you have done if I didn't come in?"

Nobody had an answer to that.

"You will all go straight to the Slytherin common room. You may shower there. If I hear about so much as a polite discussion between any of you, you will all have to answer to me. Is that clear?"

All of the boys nodded and mumbled in agreement.

It was a few seconds before Snape spoke again:

"Then why are you still standing there?"

The boys started walking out quickly. None of them said a word.

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Author's note: It is said in the books that Adrian was one of the most decent Slytherins, and because that's one of the most decent things said about a Slytherin character in the books, I think Adrian deserves a few more stories...

I wrote this for:

1) Ultimate Battle Challenge (my favourite challenge lately): Matching Accessory Set

2) Pinterest Picture Promp Challenge: Word prompt 11

3) Greek Mythology Mega Challenge: King Minos (write about cheating)

4) Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry Competition!

 **For Charms (First Year)** I had to write three drabbles that were somehow related. This is the second in a series of three drabbles about Slytherin characters acting different from what is expected of them.

 **Prompts: Mood:** Content / **Item:** Banner / **Quote:** "Strive not be a success, but rather to be of value." – Albert Einstein / **Dialogue:** "What would you have done if I didn't come in?" / **Prank (Item has to be used in prank):** Broom Broom kit / **Day** : August 31 / **Word Count:** 888 / **Dialogue** "Have you ever been so shocked that you didn't know what to say next?" / **Word:** Shag / **Animal/Creature:** Cat


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